Pedro del valle



(No Model.)

vPEDRO DEL VALLE. PARATING METALS BY AMALGAMATION.

Pl'oGEss: 0F SE No. 416,403.

Patented Deo. 8, 1889.

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UNITED vSTATES VPATENT OFFICE.

PEDRO DEL VALLE, OF MEXICO, MEXICO.

PROCESS OF SEPARATING METALS BY AMALGALMATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,403, dated December3, 1889.

Application led June 22, 1888. Serial No. 277,936. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known Jthat I, PEDRO DEL VALLE, a citizen of the Mexican Republic,residing in the city of Mexico, the capital of said Republic, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in the Process ofl SeparatingMetals by Amalgamation, (which improvement is fully set forth in thefollowing speciicatiom) and I do hereby declare that the following` is aclear and exact description of the invention, which will enable'othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of thisspecification, which shows a vertical section of the apparatus forcarrying out my process.

My invention consists in the improved process hereinafter described andclaimed.

ln the drawing, X isa suitable inclosingtank having vertical partitionsY and Z, and which tank is to be provided with a body of mercury whichrises to the level of the line a.

Outside of partition Y is disposed a pump consisting of a cylinder A,with downwardlyopening valve B at the bottom, and a piston withdownwardly-opening valves B B2. In the place of this pump there may beused other kinds of machines for injecting into the lower part of themercury the pulverized or calcined ore, either alone or mixed withconvenient substances for amalgamation.

O are horizontal plates fixed in the partitions Y and Z, and havingopenings b alternately at opposite ends.

D E is a circulating mercury-pump, opening both above and below theplates C.

E is the outlet for the discharge of amalgamated metals.

S are screens or wire sieves placed'between the horizontal plates O.

The arrows in full lines indicate the endless course of the mercurystreamv raised and circulated by the pump D E.

The dotted arrows indicate the course of the ore stream.

The crossed arrows indicate the course of the metals and amalgams ofgreater specific cury mixed with any other convenient substance. Throughthe tube or pump A, with the valve B, the pulverized ore is injectedinto the lower part ot' the mercury beneath the plates O. The particlesof metals and amalgams in the ore injected, of greater specitic gravitythan mercury, will go down to the bottom ot' the mercury and can beeasily collected. They are marked in the drawing by the crossed arrows,thus The remaining particles of the ore injected, which are of lessspecific gravity than mercury, will ascend to the surface of themercury, passing on the way bet-Ween the horizontal plates C and throughthe openings b. This will form the ascending ore streannmarked by dottedarrows, which, after reaching the upper surface of the mercury, willflow out of the apparatus at H. Between the plates C several wirescreens S will be placed, in order that the ascending pulverized orestream when passing through them may be divided and subdivided withinthe mercury and its particles put in intimate contact with the mercuryand mixed with it, in order to obtain complete amalgamation. By the pumpD E the mercury from the lower part of the tank will be raised to theupper part of the charge of mercury, in order that the mercury stream,marked by the full arrows, when descending by the way between the platesC and through the screens, will be in contact and mixed with theparticles of the pulverized ore stream ascending by the same way. Thepulverized ore, after having been passed through the apparatus, can bepassed again several times and mixed, and, if desired, may be calcinedand mixed with some appropriate substances until satisfactorily reduced.

I am aware of the lpatent to H. J. Smith, dated July 9, 1867, in whichthe ore and the mercury are circulated horizontally in oppositedirections through a cylinder provided with revolvinfbr perforateddisks, and I do not claim such process or construction.

Having thus described my inve11tion,\vl1at I claim as new is- Theprocess herein described of separating and amalgamating metals byestablishing a downward circulation of mercury through an ascendingstream of pulverized ore and elimimating or drawing off the heaviermetals Io and amalgams which gravitate out of the circulation,substantially as shown and described.

Mexico, May 14, 1888.

PEDRO DEL VALLE. Vitnesses:

M. VICARIO DE LA RIVERA, ANDRES FALLE.

